Dinah

Dinah is the daughter of Jacob and Leah. One day she is raped by someone who later wants to marry her. When Dinah’s brothers hear what happened, they think up a scheme to avenge the rape of their sister.

The name Dinah means “judgement”. For all the sons of Jacob, we get an explanation of the meaning of their name, but for Dinah this is not done. Dinah also has no specific role in any of the stories about Jacob’s children.
Dinah is the youngest child of Jacob and Leah. As the only daughter, she clearly has a different role from those of her brothers.

One day Dinah goes out walking and is raped by Shechem, the son of Hamor. Hamor was ruler of the city with the same name as his son, Shechem.
After Shechem has raped Dinah, he keeps on longing for her and wants to marry her. Jacob hears what has happened to his daughter, but does nothing.

When Dinah’s brothers hear what has happened to their sister, they think up a scheme to avenge her rape. They propose that all the men and boys in the city of Shechem should be circumcised before Shechem marries Dinah.
The men of Shechem allow themselves to be convinced by Shechem and Hamor. As a result, after three days, all the men of Shechem are lying in bed with fever. Then the two full brothers of Dinah, Simeon and Levi, take their swords and murder not only Shechem and his father, but also all the other men, and they plunder the city.

After the story of her rape in Genesis 34, Dinah’s name is only mentioned in the name list in Genesis 46:15. The Bible does not tell us whether Dinah ever married and had children.
This silence reminds us of the story of the rape of Tamar in 2 Samuel 13:1-22. After Tamar is raped by her half-brother Amnon, she goes to live with her brother Absalom and stays alone for the rest of her life: “So Tamar lived in Absalom’s house, sad and lonely” (2 Samuel 13:20).